Coach Fran McCaffery
Men's Basketball Press Conference
Q. Like any other coach who's had success at the same place for more than a decade, you've also dealt with your share of adversity with some really good teams. What have you kind of learned from some of those past losing streaks, and how can those lessons apply to the current situation?
FRAN McCAFFERY: In this league, you know it's going to happen at some point. You try not to make it happen. Obviously you want to do everything you can. But we're playing really good teams with really good players. You've got to overcome certain things at certain times, whether it be foul trouble, player injury, being on the road, being at home, which isn't as much of a factor this year.
But we just keep plugging away. If you're going good, it's great. You don't take that for granted. If you lose a game, you try to get better in the next one, and then you try to get better in the next one. If you lose a couple in a row, respect your opponent, just keep working.
Q. What's different about this Rutgers team maybe the last four games that they've kind of gotten hot here after that streak when they were losing a lot of games?
FRAN McCAFFERY: They shuffled the deck with the starting lineup. Put Geo back with the ball and put McConnell in there. At the start of the season they weren't even sure McConnell was going to play. Actually he wasn't going to play. He's a really good player. Jacob Young is playing extremely well. He's just coming off the bench, as is Mathis. So they kind of have seven starters, almost eight if you want to count Cliff.
So I think they've settled into their roles now. They've got a really big starting lineup. Myles Johnson is playing as well as anybody in the country, as is Geo Baker. I remember at the beginning of the year he was injured, and he started playing and he kind of wasn't himself. Well, he's himself now, and he's one of the elite players in the country.
Q. It was your sixth game as a Division I head coach, you came to Iowa City and you faced an Iowa team with Roy Marble, who was playing his seventh Division I game. Now you've got a guy who's about to beat his record. What do you think Roy would say about this?
FRAN McCAFFERY: It was incredible. When I first got here, he's one of the first people I reached out to on a number of different levels. He was Iowa's all-time leading scorer. He lived in town. We were recruiting his son, kind of re-recruiting him because he had been recruited by the previous staff. And I think in the process and then coaching his son, we got to be really friendly. The one thing that always stuck out with me with Roy was he was a Hawk. I mean, he loved this place. He loved his experience here. He loved coming to the games. I mean, it was clearly a lot of fun for him when Dev was playing. That meant so much to him.
But he was very much involved in our program, knew all of our players, went to every primetime league game, talked to the guys, the guys listened to him.
He would have appreciated Luka Garza in a number of different ways. They would have gotten to know each other and he would have loved the kid as a person and his character but then his work ethic and tenacity and consistency. I think he would have really been a champion for Luka and watching him grow and develop and fighting through adversity like he did his sophomore year, and he would have loved him, and he would have supported him.
I wish he was here. I wish he was here to see it.
Q. Looking back at the first meeting with Rutgers, obviously that was one of your better wins of the season. What impressed you the most looking back on what you guys did down the stretch in that game, and do you reinforce with your guys that moment, that they can do it, that they have done it?
FRAN McCAFFERY: That game was consistent with a lot of the games in this league. There's a number of lead changes. We won the game. Keegan made an unbelievable play at the end.
But there was so many plays coming down the stretch by both teams. I mean, Geo made a big hoop, Bohannon made a big hoop, CJ made two big buckets, Luka had a monster game, Keegan ended up playing a lot, Connor got hurt. So it's one of those things where we kept fighting, they kept fighting, and we were the last ones standing.
The same was true in our losses. We're fighting, guys are making big plays, and so are they. We're just going to try to be in a situation where we're the last ones standing.
Men's Basketball Press Conference
Q. Like any other coach who's had success at the same place for more than a decade, you've also dealt with your share of adversity with some really good teams. What have you kind of learned from some of those past losing streaks, and how can those lessons apply to the current situation?
FRAN McCAFFERY: In this league, you know it's going to happen at some point. You try not to make it happen. Obviously you want to do everything you can. But we're playing really good teams with really good players. You've got to overcome certain things at certain times, whether it be foul trouble, player injury, being on the road, being at home, which isn't as much of a factor this year.
But we just keep plugging away. If you're going good, it's great. You don't take that for granted. If you lose a game, you try to get better in the next one, and then you try to get better in the next one. If you lose a couple in a row, respect your opponent, just keep working.
Q. What's different about this Rutgers team maybe the last four games that they've kind of gotten hot here after that streak when they were losing a lot of games?
FRAN McCAFFERY: They shuffled the deck with the starting lineup. Put Geo back with the ball and put McConnell in there. At the start of the season they weren't even sure McConnell was going to play. Actually he wasn't going to play. He's a really good player. Jacob Young is playing extremely well. He's just coming off the bench, as is Mathis. So they kind of have seven starters, almost eight if you want to count Cliff.
So I think they've settled into their roles now. They've got a really big starting lineup. Myles Johnson is playing as well as anybody in the country, as is Geo Baker. I remember at the beginning of the year he was injured, and he started playing and he kind of wasn't himself. Well, he's himself now, and he's one of the elite players in the country.
Q. It was your sixth game as a Division I head coach, you came to Iowa City and you faced an Iowa team with Roy Marble, who was playing his seventh Division I game. Now you've got a guy who's about to beat his record. What do you think Roy would say about this?
FRAN McCAFFERY: It was incredible. When I first got here, he's one of the first people I reached out to on a number of different levels. He was Iowa's all-time leading scorer. He lived in town. We were recruiting his son, kind of re-recruiting him because he had been recruited by the previous staff. And I think in the process and then coaching his son, we got to be really friendly. The one thing that always stuck out with me with Roy was he was a Hawk. I mean, he loved this place. He loved his experience here. He loved coming to the games. I mean, it was clearly a lot of fun for him when Dev was playing. That meant so much to him.
But he was very much involved in our program, knew all of our players, went to every primetime league game, talked to the guys, the guys listened to him.
He would have appreciated Luka Garza in a number of different ways. They would have gotten to know each other and he would have loved the kid as a person and his character but then his work ethic and tenacity and consistency. I think he would have really been a champion for Luka and watching him grow and develop and fighting through adversity like he did his sophomore year, and he would have loved him, and he would have supported him.
I wish he was here. I wish he was here to see it.
Q. Looking back at the first meeting with Rutgers, obviously that was one of your better wins of the season. What impressed you the most looking back on what you guys did down the stretch in that game, and do you reinforce with your guys that moment, that they can do it, that they have done it?
FRAN McCAFFERY: That game was consistent with a lot of the games in this league. There's a number of lead changes. We won the game. Keegan made an unbelievable play at the end.
But there was so many plays coming down the stretch by both teams. I mean, Geo made a big hoop, Bohannon made a big hoop, CJ made two big buckets, Luka had a monster game, Keegan ended up playing a lot, Connor got hurt. So it's one of those things where we kept fighting, they kept fighting, and we were the last ones standing.
The same was true in our losses. We're fighting, guys are making big plays, and so are they. We're just going to try to be in a situation where we're the last ones standing.
